1. Comparison of Clinical Isolates of <italic>Aeromonas</italic> from Singapore and Malaysia with Regard to Molecular Identification, Virulence, and Antimicrobial Profiles.
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Khor, Wei Ching, Puah, Suat Moi, Koh, Tse Hsien, Tan, Jin Ai Mary Anne, Puthucheary, Savithiri D., and Chua, Kek Heng
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DRUG resistance in bacteria , *MICROBIAL virulence , *ANTI-infective agents , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *NOSOCOMIAL infections - Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the species distribution, genetic relatedness, virulence gene profiles, antimicrobial sensitivities, and resistance gene distribution of clinicalObjective: Aeromonas strains from Singapore and Malaysia. A total of 210Methods: Aeromonas clinical isolates were investigated: 116 from Singapore General Hospital and 94 archived clinical isolates from University of Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia. The isolates were genetically identified based on thegcat gene screening and the partial sequences of therpoD housekeeping gene. Genetic relatedness, distribution of 15 virulence genes and 4 beta-lactamase resistance genes, and susceptibility patterns to 11 antimicrobial agents were compared. Of the 210Results: Aeromonas isolates,A. dhakensis– 94 (45%) was the dominant species in Singapore and Malaysia. Species composition was similar and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR did not show genetic relatedness between strains from the two countries. Of the 15 virulence genes,A. dhakensis andA. hydrophila harbored the most compared with other species. Different combinations of 9 virulence genes (exu ,fla ,lip ,eno ,alt ,dam ,hlyA ,aexU, andascV ) were present inA. dhakensis ,A. hydrophila , andA. veronii from both the countries. Distribution of virulence genes was species and anatomic site related. Majority (>80%) of the strains were susceptible to all antimicrobial agents tested, except amoxicillin and cephalothin.A. dhakensis strains from Malaysia significantly harbored thecphA gene compared withA. dhakensis from Singapore. Multidrug resistance was mostly detected in strains from peritoneal fluids of dialysis patients. This study revealedConclusion: A. dhakensis as the dominant species isolated in both geographic regions, and that it carried a high number of virulence genes. It also highlights the geographic-related differences of virulence gene distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of clinicalAeromonas strains from Singapore and Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2018
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